The earliest known work by Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is Boy Peeling Fruit. The painting was created in Caravaggio’s first years in Rome and is dated c.1592-1593. Several copies of the painting exist, most copies derived from Caravaggio’s original, but it is believed that the original is now part of the British Royal Collection. Many of the copies have been labeled as being created by Caravaggio. It is unclear exactly when the painting was created. Some believe it might have been painted while Caravaggio stayed with Monsignor Pandulfo Pucci in the Palazzo Colonna or perhaps later when he was working for Giuseppe Cesari. Boy Peeling Fruit would …..

Caravaggio painted The Musicians for his first patron, Cardinal Francesco del Monte. It is believed that this might be the first painting Caravaggio created specifically for the Cardinal. Woven through the painting are the characteristics of love and music making a statement about the painful side of love and the value of music. Paintings that highlighted the theme of music during this time period were popular since the church was undergoing a shift in musical styles and forms. In the painting, we see four boys, three of whom are playing instruments or singing and the fourth, Cupid, can be seen in the left corner reaching for a bundle of grapes …..

On one hand Baroque master, Caravaggio, rubbed elbows with wealthy and powerful people such as the Borghese family and Cardinal del Monte, and on the other he befriended what would be considered a more unsavory bunch including Fillide Melandroni. Fillide was born in Siena in 1581. She later moved to Rome and entered into a career of prostitution by the age of only 16. Fillide was one of Rome’s most well-known and successful prostitutes, sought after by the elite of Rome. During the 16th century prostitution was a prominent feature, though a moral dilemma, of Rome’s landscape and one that was enjoyed even by the noblemen of the day. Caravaggio …..